XO Feudal Life
by softblackgirl
Summary: It's been more than half a century since the defeat of Naraku. As Inuyasha reaches maturity by demon standards, he changes for better or worse. You be the Judge. This is a story about two losers playing way too hard to get and a stony-faced inuyokai that enjoys watching them suffer.
1. chapter 1

A child in scrappy clothes awakes in his family's modest home a little ways away from a certain village that was once host to a powerful jewel. That village is famous for many things: from being the second homestead for a family of monks and demon hunters; to its historical burial site of the late High Priestess Kagome; and by having the indefinite protection of a certain notoriously hot-headed hanyou.

The boy rushes through his chores and inhales his meager breakfast before addressing his family and running towards a trail in the forest.

His mother laughs. This has become a routine ever since they migrated here.

The boy carries his rucksack over his small shoulders as he makes his way to a very familiar clearing surrounded by trees with branches that look comfortable enough to sleep on.

Yet the child finds the object of his search sleeping akimbo near a dwindling fire, his sword clutched to his chest, and white hair tangled almost opaquely covering his face.

The boy smiles gap-toothed, running towards the fabled hero as he reaches into his sack and pulls out his mother's breakfast gruel and two well-sized fish his father caught in a nearby river.

He settles his inventory, noticing how tired the demon must be to have not already heard him coming, as he walks off to gather firewood and stronger twigs to tie together so he can better roast with.

By the time the child is back, Inuyasha is beginning to stir so he walks briskly, dropping a few stray twigs along the way.

As the hero's face gets closer and closer, the boy notices something strange. There's clearly something different about the man but what?

Everything seems to be in place until Inuyasha lifts his head groggily and squints at him.

And there it is.

The boy giggles and points at the hanyou's face. "Nii-chan, your face looks funny today!"

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Inuyasha scowls, confused, but waves it off as just the kid being silly.

Afterall, it takes a special kind of stupid to walk in the woods every morning just to make sure a demon eats breakfast.

The kid gets to work, trying to blow the fire back to life, until he blows too hard - sending ash into his face.

Inuyasha grimaces as the kid immediately starts to cry. He scoops the kid up and comforts him, wiping tears and soot of the kid's fat cheeks and tiny nose with his fire rat robes.

As the kid settles into his hold and the cries turn to whimpers, the hanyou can feel a rumbling in his chest as warmth radiates through him. It's strange that before now he would never think of sharing skinship with the brat but the sound of the child in pain suddenly pulled him into instinctive action.

As alien as that instinct is, the hanyou can't put it in him to reject the kid now to save face. All he manages to do is grumble and scold the brat for trying a task too big for him, the fire slowing into a tendril of smoke.

After Inuyasha finishes off the last fish, he instantly regrets hugging the kid.

It's like the floodgates have opened and now he can't do anything without the kid wanting to go piggyback.

He walks towards the village with the kid in his arms, babbling on about this rabbit his mother is letting him keep or it might be about his dream last night that had Inuyasha getting married to a Prince from a far away kingdom.

Really he stopped listening after the first mile, if he's being honest.

"Nii-chan, how come your teeth are so sharp?"

"So I can better scare twerps like you." Is his monotone reply.

"That's silly, Nii-chan. You're not scary. You're pretty!" The kid giggles and plants a gross kiss on the hanyou's cheek.

Inuyasha frowns but keeps any outrage to himself. There may be a slight blush on the inside of his dog ears but who's to say?

The village has much of the same charm it held when his ragtag group of warriors assembled for the first time. Only culture has changed to some extent.

The people are much more welcome to the hanyou. He's some kind of novelty. A walking story book character from the legacy Kagome left behind. If adults aren't revering him to an untouchable pedestal, they're children are invading his personal space.

At least he isn't on the same level as Kirara - once the companion to a demon hunter, now treated like a beloved mascot/unofficial royal. He can understand now why Shippou long decided to dedicate himself to gaining tails, becoming a fabled scholar and illusionist.

It's been awhile since his last visit, about twenty human years, but now Inuyasha is realizing time passes differently for him.

His face has yet to harden with young adulthood; it took Shippou of all people to tell him he was still considered a child to almost all demon standards.

He would have had no problem with that if his immunity for time's effects was not so contrasted by the humans who have cared for him.

But for all he minds and quietly suffers, he is by all accounts his father's son; his love for humans has always been a habit he has yet to shake.

Even now, the hanyou watches as the child he carried to the village is carrolled towards morning lessons and he knows the child will die before him.

Which is why he never uses the kid's name; why he stopped keeping up with Sango's descendents; why he hadn't allowed himself to love Kagome as anything more than a friend.

It's why he stays lonely.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

The child tries his hardest to pay attention to the village elder but sooner or later his mind wanders; his body fidgets and he ends up drawing on his paper.

His muse is fairly obvious. There's no mistaking who the man with dog ears is.

The elder has already come to terms about how the child's brain is wired differently than his other students. He doesn't mind the extra attention this one requires nor is he shocked that stories of the hanyou's past are the main motivators for the child to learn.

As the elder ends this morning's lesson, he smiles at the child, who asks for "more drawing paper, please."

By the time the child is satisfied with his masterpiece, it is noon and the mighty half demon has returned, never really having drifted far to begin with.

The elder would almost call Inuyasha a mother hen if he didn't value his peace.

"Nii-chan, look it!! It's you!" The child launches his chubby body into the air for Inuyasha to reluctantly catch yet, the elder does not fail to notice the hanyou's smile.

The man chuckles as he retreats back into his home. If only the high priestess could see her friend now…

"Listen twerp, I'm not insulting your skills but at least get my face right."

"What are you talking about Inuchasha?" The kid asks from his seat on the half demon's shoulders, who is way too used to the kid's weird aversion to pronouncing his name right to start caring now.

"What's this shit on my face, kid? They better not be whiskers…"

"Its this stuff, Chasha! It's been on your face all day!" The boy slaps his hands lightly on the hanyou's cheeks.

"Oi, stop that or I'll start chomping." The hanyou carefully inspects the child's rendition of him. It's not far off. The kid even tried to add color and only the Gods know how the little twerp managed to find red ink.

Inuyasha scoffs at how enormous the brat drew his eyes, how the drawing has no nose and the permanent scowl etched in black.

What he can't shake off though are the scar like patterns on the drawing's face. Two scars (if he could put a name to it) run from the right side of his face to the outer edge of his cheeks. If Inuyasha didn't know any better, he'd say they were similar to his father's markings and by extension, Sesshomaru's.

Inuyasha hands the paper back to his passenger and continues onto their hike back to the kid's home before noon. He'll excuse the wannabe cat whiskers as an example of the boy's overactive imagination.

And if the right side of his face starts coincidentally itching...then it's just that.

He'll worry when it becomes a problem.


	2. chapter 2

"I'm not a fibber!" The child pouts as he stomps his feet. "You do too have stuff on your face! And it's even more than yesterday!" He shuffles closer to the hanyou, forces him to crouch down, and moves the hair out of his face.

"See, Mama? It's right there!."

Indeed it is, the woman thinks in awe.

When her child showed her the rather...gifted drawing her son had created during his lessons with Village Elder, she had dismissed the exaggerations as just that. Yet now she can see her child's portrait was understated.

The right side of the hanyou's face was decorated with purple markings that almost looked to cradle his cheek bone. Against his brown skin, it was a striking contrast least of all with his large gold eyes.

"Oh dear…" The woman blushes at his beauty and sets to looking for her antique mirror - the inu isn't one to believe what he cannot see.

All the while, the child stands at the hanyou's knees absolutely offended. It was one thing for Inuyasha not to believe him but to call him a liar right in front of Mama was a low blow.

"You're not my friend anymore, big meanie!" The child announces as he blows a raspberry in the dog demon's direction.

"W-what?" Inuyasha sputters. His eyes widen as he sees the child facing away from him and walking towards a nearby creek. It's been so long since he's offended someone; he almost thought he developed manners. How long ago was it that he even thought about apologizing? And to a kid no less?

Inuyasha follows the child, confused.

He finds the boy sticking his feet in the water, letting minnows swim around his ankles as tears drip down the boy's face.

All the weight in the hanyou's body drops from his belly when he sees his teasing made the twerp cry.

He doesn't understand what moves his body into gathering the child in his arms and apologizing immediately, but he guesses it might have to do with the shit on his face.

Because when the mother comes back after her search with a mirror, there's no more denying it.

The kid wasn't lying after all.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

"ichouldphorblyshendf-"

"Don't talk with your mouth full dear." The mother calmly intergects.

Inuyasha gulps, embarrassed as the boy and his sister giggle at his light scolding. He sits his bowl of porridge down and begins his sentence again.

"I uh.. I think I need to send for Shippou."

"Who?" The children inquire, but for the grownups who have heard tales of the young fox pup in the legends, they only nod in agreement.

"Don't worry about it, twerps. Just an old friend."

The children scowl at being kept out of loop but that is quickly rectified when the hanyou begins his infamous story hour before bed.

He recounts in rather… colorful language his first meeting with Shippou. The battle of thunder and lightning and the hilarity that often occurred at his own expense. He talks as if it was all a day ago and not close to a hundred years.

When he is done, he watches from the doorframe as the adults tuck in their children. He thanks the family for the meager yet gracious meal and he makes his path to a forest clearing.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Inuyasha has yet learned how to properly read and write. Which is why he and the boy are gathered around the village elder after school hours.

"Inuchasha, wasn't your mommy a princess?" The child looks up to the hanyou from inside his arms.

"Mmhm." He grunts, only barely paying attention. He had told the old man what to tell Shippou; he had no idea it would take so long to write it all out.

"How come she didn't teach you? Mama said all royals know how to read and write. Wasn't your papa a lord?" Asks the child.

"Woah, those are big questions, twerp." Says the hanyou as he squeezes the boy playfully in his arms. "You writing a book about me or something?"

"Noooooo!"

"Then why the twenty questions?" Inuyasha ruffles the boy's black hair and successfully embarrasses the boy into silence.

If pushed to honesty, Inuyasha's mother, Izayoi, had tried to teach him before her death but the hanyou's mind couldn't make sense of it then, just as he can't now. Characters seem to shift and spin whenever he tries to concentrate. It's a lost cause, he long decided.

"Inuyasha, I am finished." Says the old man.

"Thanks, old man." The irony is not lost on him. Inuyasha is old enough to have known the elder when he was just a toddler just as he'll know the twerp well into his golden years. The hanyou puts the kid down to free up his hands.

The elder smiles with a twinkle in his eye, obviously laughing at the inside joke. He rolls up the scroll and hands it to the walking history book in fire rat robes.

Inuyasha scoffs and walks toward the forest with the twerp following at his heels.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

"Inuchasha, what's that?"

"It's a bird, kid. You never seen a bird before?"

"Not like that one!"

Inuyasha snickers at the kid's reaction. He has to give the kid some slack though. It is a pretty gnarly looking bird - what with it's multiple eyes and blue iridescent feathers. It's a demon grade carrier raven. Specifically it's Shippou's.

"Tsunade here is gonna send that old friend I told you about a message. You remember that annoying fox kit from my story?" He asks as he tries to work out how to tie his message to Tsunade's foot. (Hey it's tricky when you have claws for nails.)

"Mmhmm…" says the child as he attempts to stares into all of the raven's eyes.

"Well he got less annoying a couple of years ago and now he's a scholar on all things demon and human. Gonna ask him about this purple shit on my face."

"Why don't you ask me right now?"

The hanyou and child swerve around towards the voice and see a young man walking towards them with short orange hair, tan skin, and extravagant blue robes.

Inuyasha scowls. "Shippou..."

xoxoxoxoxoxox

author's notes:

sorry this chapter is so much shorter. i want to keep this story well updated and that might mean shorter chapters!

thank you so much for reading and please leave feedback!

it means a lot !


	3. chapter 3

"Inuyasha...I see you've made a new friend." The fox crouches down to the child's level.

The boy smiles shyly, grabbing at Inuyasha's robes in an attempt to do something with his hands.

Shippou stretches his arm out and asks for the child's hand before performing a sleight of hand and gifting him with a yellow wildflower - much to the boy's awe.

The hanyou sucks his teeth in annoyance as he dismisses the carrier raven. "Show off…"

"That's funny coming from you." Shippou smirks and raises to his full height. A whole head above the hanyou.

Inuyasha is not amused by the shit-eating grin on the scholar's face. He expresses as much when he grabs the child's hand and starts walking in the opposite direction, much to the fox's amusement.

"I'm sorry. Did I offend you?" The fox leisurely follows after them, trying not to laugh at the sight of Inuyasha all but dragging a child away from what he deems a bad influence.

The hanyou ignores him. Finally opting to scooping the child into his arms, walking faster. All the while, the boy looks over the dog demon's shoulder to wave at Shippou.

Shippou smiles with his eyes and holds up a finger to his mouth until the child gets the hint.

He disappears from the child's sight with a puff of smoke only to just as instantly reappear in front of Inuyasha's path.

Shippou tries very hard to contain his laughter when he hears the squeak that comes out of the older man's mouth. The fox may be great a deal stronger from his childhood but there is hardly a demon out there stupid enough to cross an inuyoukai when his pride is at stake.

"Argh! I hate when you do that!!" Inuyasha exclaims.

"Then stop being such an easy target!" Shippou looks at the child.

"If I didn't know any better, I would ask if he was yours...Gods know you were never one for children so why the sudden change?."

"It would probably have to do with this shit on my face, Shippou. Just taking a wild guess."

The fox stares at Inuyasha, a bit embarrassed that he is only, just now, noticing the markings but too prideful to admit it. He smiles in an attempt to distract from his poor observation.

Inuyasha sighs, able to read Shippou like an open book. For such a book smart nerd, the fox can be slow to the obvious.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

"What a surprise? You still prefer tree branches to perfectly good futons." Shippou deadpans as he settles near a fire in the forest clearing Inuyasha all but claimed as his own.

"Feh." The hanyou has never cared comfort in where he lays his head. Be it his harsh upbringing that conditioned his body to feel his most at peace up in twigs and branches, looking down at the hostile nights before him.

Shippou smiles fondly at his old friend. And then he feels a tug on his garment. He turns toward the child - face covered in dirt and hair matted against his forehead. The child pushes something in his face until the fox accepts and quickly rushes to the hanyou's lap after (who then immediately starts to groom him).

In his hands are many flowers and weeds of all kinds. A kindness repaid tenfold.

Shippou cries out. "Aurgh! Why is he so cute?!"

Shippou crouches near the child and takes hold of his hands.

"Okay kiddo, how about a story?"

The boy nods his head enthusiastically but the hanyou just sighs.

"Shippou, I thought you were gonna explain all the weird shit happening to me."

"Don't worry about that, fleabed. This story is like killing two spider hanyous for the price of one."

The older male rolls his eyes.

"Alright kiddo, this is a story about a...erm..a cat half demon."

"Really Shippou?"

"Hey! No interruptions. And any likenesses to real life individuals is purely coincidental." The fox recited as if practiced beforehand. "Now, where was I? Yeah okay. Cat half demon guy... his name? Um lets go with Nekomaru. So this guy had ... blonde hair and frozen donkey robes."

"Shippou..." The man begun, only to be shushed by his young charge.

The fox snickers.

"Nekomaru aged differently compared to humans and even most demons. You see, cat demons live for a crazy long time, especially if they are royal blood. So most of them aren't considered grown up until about a century or two...give or take a few years asleep in a tree. "

"Shippou just get to the fucking point."

"Um, Nekomaru is going through demon puberty?"

"Fuck."

xoxoxoxoxoxo

AN: Sorry again for the short update and not to mention the long ass wait but I have my reasons

reasons: being put off my meds rather aburtly

constructive criticism is very much welcome as I am super rusty from my old ff days in middle school.

until next time! thank you for all your reviews! i read them at least twice a week


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